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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

I
think a lot of the reason the younger generations are a bunch of self
absorbed, know it all, whiny, little brats who brutz about everything
and think they are awakened, is because, they never really had it rough.
Sure, some had crappy childhoods, maybe some were bullied in school, blah blah, blah blah. There are always exceptions. However, the government has made this big, fun filled, la la land, complete with giant cushions, much like a padded quiet room in a mental ward.
They warn us "don't eat ice packs!", "don't say this!", "don't fight
back! Report, tell somebody! If you see something, say something!",
"don't figure it out on your own. We'll be here to pick you up, brush
you off and hug you and squeeze you tight and make it all better."
Oh shocking! Somebody called you a mean name? Well, we'll take care of
that! It's no longer allowed! We don't want your feelers hurt.
What's this? You got hit with that big, mean, red ball during a game of
evil dodgeball? Well, we will outlaw that asap! We don't want your
little arms to get brush burned. We don't want you to man up and learn
to stand up, fight back, defend yourself or worse, learn to play the
damn game!! You don't know what to do when you lose your job? No
worries, come over here, take all of this free stuff, not just for a few
months until you are on your feet, but for as long as you want!
Don't want to work again? NO problem! Visit benefits.gov and fill out
your info, we will handle all the work for you. All you need to do is
tell us what you want and how much and we will get you the benefits you
want! You got a bad grade on a test? No worries, we will dumb down
the rest of the class and force them all to work at the same pace as
you, we will treat you all the same so you aren't singled out and we
will lower the letter grade percentages so that when you get a C, the B
students also get a C, just like you!!We
had to walk miles to and from school, we played dodgeball, kickball,
tag, street hockey, kids got bad grades so they tried harder next time,
kids got picked on, so they came up with clever ways to fight back.
Kids used their imaginations. Kids weren't babied. Kids went to school
in 95 degree weather with FANS, not air conditioners. Kids didn't have
water bottles on their desks, we waited for water fountain drink breaks.
Our moms and dads let us play outside, in fact, they would open the
door after breakfast and make us go out. Then, they'd yell at dinnertime
for us to come back, but just to eat! We had strict budgets for
back to school shopping, we didn't all get the newest Nikes or the
coolest jeans. Some kids' families, stood in long lines for government
cheese and powdered milk, every so often, when the family had a job
loss, health issue, etc. Our moms canned and that's what we ate when
times got tough, or during winter. We got Saturday mornings for tv, nothing more. We did our homework and played outside.
When we wanted to buy something, we saved our couple $ a week
allowance, (if you were 1 of the lucky families who had allowance), we
asked neighbors if they had odd jobs for us, shoveling snow, mowing
grass, baby sitting, help with errands, cleaning, whatever. We saved for
weeks, sometimes months, so we could buy that 1 toy, album, whatever we
wanted to buy. When we turned 14, we ran to our schools to get our
working papers signed. Then we ran around and begged for jobs at the
local pizza shops, newspaper routes, ice cream shops. We earned
paychecks. Tiny ones, but we received money in return for 4 hour shifts
and trading our free time after school, weekends, and summers, so that
we could have our own money. With that, came pride, self respect,
dignity. Hard work, personal responsibility were valuable lessons and
traits that we received in return for working. We got dumped, picked on, so, we became stronger. We toughened up. We made dumb mistakes and decisions and learned from them. We rarely
(if at all.) were given 2nd chances for tests or reports that we
failed, due to our own stupidity. If we sat up all night, talking
through windows to our friends, or sneaking on the steps to watch horror
movies, failing to study, we sacrificed a good grade, or if we were
caught, we were spanked and or grounded. (and we didn't call CPS!) There were bad times and good times and we made the best of them. That's just how we were taught.
We didn't cry and beg for the government to help or give us stuff. We
didn't blame the neighbors, who didn't lose their jobs because they
didn't work at the steel foundries that were run down into the ground
when the unions came and told our dads' that they should demand more
money. We didn't blame the other families who had nicer cars and
nicer houses, we didn't hate the kids who had the cool clothes or the
nicer things. We sat in the beds of pick up trucks and went for ice
cream. If you had a big family and your dad drove a Pinto, you all got
shoved in the back seat, even in 90 degree weather. It didn't matter,
you were going to the drive in or for ice cream anyway. Sometimes we
even had issues like, our hot water got shut off. Guess what? We boiled
water for hours and hours so we could get baths or wash dishes. We
didn't have these community organizations that would give us emergency
money whenever we needed. (yes, you can find out more about these
benefits at benefit.gov) I could go on and on about the shit we
dealt with, got knocked down from, picked ourselves up from, learned
from, became wiser from, etc etc, but, I'm sure you're growing tired
from reading my rant..... (I forgot to add, my childhood wasn't all
sugarplums and peaches, it was rough in spots, sometimes, super rough,
but the lessons learned and the traits we were rewarded with, made it
all worthwhile. The good memories also made it a childhood, a life, I
wouldn't trade for anything.)